From the movie "Ed Wood."

Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):

"They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"

I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."

So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.

Lenona wrote:
> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>
> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>
> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>
>
> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>
> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.

"Tarantula" (1955) came out from Universal before their "Incredible Shrinking Man," and before Lugosi left this world. Peter Graves, before starring in "Beginning of the End," stared in "Killers from Space" (1954), which included a menagerie of enlarged animals. Sorry, I don't remember what all they had. I would caution against the thought that Lugosi would have spoken with entomological precision in saying anything like that, and the thought that the movie accurately transcribed anything Lugosi might have said.

For "giant" spiders not as large as houses or horses, but more the size of a dog, see "Cat-Women of the Moon" (1953). I don't remember if this is the first use of that puppet, but it isn't the last!

--
-Jack

On 2022-08-06, Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>
> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."

Lugosi died in 1956.

The most famous giant spider movie is _Tarantula_ (1955).
_Them!_ (1954), which has giant ants, also comes to mind.

The line quoted above may also have drifted into hyperbole, so I
wouldn't ponder whether there actually was a giant grasshoppers
movie before Lugosi's death.

Also, is that something Lugosi is known to have said or something
the screenwriter made up? In which case they may not have worried
too much about alluding to movies that came out a few years later.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 10:25:38 AM UTC-4, jack wrote:

> I would caution against the thought that Lugosi would have spoken with entomological precision in saying anything like that, and the thought that the movie accurately transcribed anything Lugosi might have said.

No, I didn't assume he said anything like that in real life. I just wondered which movies Tim Burton et al would have been referring to, since those hadn't been made yet.

(For the record, it seems that the meeting between Wood and Lugosi was nothing like the one in the movie; Wood was introduced to Lugosi by producer/writer Alex Gordon, supposedly when he and Wood were roommates. But his IMDb entry doesn't mention Wood or Lugosi, even though Gordon wrote "Bride of the Monster." Btw, he produced the 1956 "Shake, Rattle & Rock!" which I LOVED; it has Sterling Holloway, Fats Domino and Margaret Dumont. See here for his entry: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0329966/ )

On 8/6/2022 7:53 AM, Lenona wrote:
> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>
> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>
> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>
>
> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>
> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.

I liked the reverse movie, "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids".

Lynn

On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>
> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>
> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>
>
> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>
> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.

The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?). Given that
scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
anachronism.

On Saturday, 6 August 2022 at 20:09:10 UTC+1, David Johnston wrote:
> On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> >
> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> >
> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> >
> >
> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> >
> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?). Given that
> scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
> anachronism.

I would suppose that his point of view concerns films being
made then, so the time between casting or filming and
then releasing a film comes into it. Not just what you can see.
But iIf _Them!_ was a hit then I imagine that fifty knockoffs
were immediately planned.

And meanwhile:
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_March_of_Scotland_Yard>

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>
> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>
> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>
>
> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>
> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider. Then there were movies that had giant insect or insect-like creatures as secondary antagonists to another monster or villain, like Rodan and Killers From space. Black Scorpion also kind of fits that description, since it showed the title monster feeding on smaller scorpions and other creatures. That was also one of very few to use stop motion animation, from Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson. Since stop motion was so labor intensive, a lot of the giant bug movies were made with process/ optical shots to blow up real insects, or crude full-sized mockups. Some of the last that got made were in the 1970s, when it was more like a comic trope. Hope this helps...

On Sunday, 7 August 2022 at 03:08:42 UTC+1, David Brown wrote:
> On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> >
> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> >
> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> >
> >
> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> >
> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider. Then there were movies that had giant insect or insect-like creatures as secondary antagonists to another monster or villain, like Rodan and Killers From space. Black Scorpion also kind of fits that description, since it showed the title monster feeding on smaller scorpions and other creatures. That was also one of very few to use stop motion animation, from Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson. Since stop motion was so labor intensive, a lot of the giant bug movies were made with process/ optical shots to blow up real insects, or crude full-sized mockups. Some of the last that got made were in the 1970s, when it was more like a comic trope. Hope this helps...

I think Flash Gordon fought one or more magnified critters
on film in the 1930s, but I don't recall if that included bugs.

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 10:08:42 PM UTC-4, David Brown wrote:
> On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> >
> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> >
> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> >
> >
> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> >
> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider.

Um, those last three were released after Lugosi's death.

On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 8:53:27 AM UTC-4, Lenona wrote:
> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>
> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):

I might as well add that I was very disappointed in Tim Burton for allowing the distortion of Lugosi's reputation for being a gentleman.

That is, in real life, apparently, he DIDN'T use profanity. (I only recently found this out.)

That would hardly have been unusual, I would think, for a man born in 1882.

So, given how fascinating he was in general, how hard would it have been to make him so for modern audiences, WITHOUT profanity? Even when the biopic is about someone else?

Otherwise, I adored Landau's performance - and I could have adored it even more. If only...

On Sat, 6 Aug 2022 13:08:55 -0600, David Johnston
<davidjohnston29@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
>> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>
>> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>>
>> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>>
>>
>> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>>
>> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>
>The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?). Given that
>scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
>anachronism.

The scene may have taken place in 1955, but /Them!/ (note slammer) was
released in 1954.

Also, Lugosi (if he actually said this) may have been reacting to
notices of what films were being planned or were in production, which
would include some films released (not very long after, but
definitely) after 1955.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Sun, 7 Aug 2022 07:42:17 -0700 (PDT), Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 8:53:27 AM UTC-4, Lenona wrote:
>> From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>
>> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>
>
>I might as well add that I was very disappointed in Tim Burton for allowing the distortion of Lugosi's reputation for being a gentleman.
>
>That is, in real life, apparently, he DIDN'T use profanity. (I only recently found this out.)
>
>That would hardly have been unusual, I would think, for a man born in 1882.
>
>So, given how fascinating he was in general, how hard would it have been to make him so for modern audiences, WITHOUT profanity? Even when the biopic is about someone else?
>
>Otherwise, I adored Landau's performance - and I could have adored it even more. If only...

IIRC, Landau got an Oscar for it.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Sun, 7 Aug 2022 07:33:52 -0700 (PDT), Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 10:08:42 PM UTC-4, David Brown wrote:
>> On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
>> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
>> >
>> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>> >
>> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>> >
>> >
>> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>> >
>> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>> That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider.
>
>Um, those last three were released after Lugosi's death.

But they could have been planned and/or in production. There was at
least one "business" newspaper reporting current projects, and he
could have been reacting (if he actually said this) to what the
studios were planning -- none of those plans including him.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 7:33:54 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 10:08:42 PM UTC-4, David Brown wrote:
> > On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> > > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> > >
> > > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> > >
> > > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> > >
> > > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> > That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider.
> Um, those last three were released after Lugosi's death.
If you're going just with ones In Lugosi's lifetime, one more of interest is Killers From Space in 1954. That was one of the ones that used giant bugs as secondary antagonists, in this case as guard dogs for the aliens.

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 5:36:24 AM UTC-7, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Sunday, 7 August 2022 at 03:08:42 UTC+1, David Brown wrote:
> > On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> > > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> > >
> > > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> > >
> > > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> > >
> > > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> > That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider. Then there were movies that had giant insect or insect-like creatures as secondary antagonists to another monster or villain, like Rodan and Killers From space. Black Scorpion also kind of fits that description, since it showed the title monster feeding on smaller scorpions and other creatures. That was also one of very few to use stop motion animation, from Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson. Since stop motion was so labor intensive, a lot of the giant bug movies were made with process/ optical shots to blow up real insects, or crude full-sized mockups. Some of the last that got made were in the 1970s, when it was more like a comic trope. Hope this helps...
> I think Flash Gordon fought one or more magnified critters
> on film in the 1930s, but I don't recall if that included bugs.

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 5:36:24 AM UTC-7, Robert Carnegie wrote:
> On Sunday, 7 August 2022 at 03:08:42 UTC+1, David Brown wrote:
> > On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
> > > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> > >
> > > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> > >
> > > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> > >
> > > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
> > That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider. Then there were movies that had giant insect or insect-like creatures as secondary antagonists to another monster or villain, like Rodan and Killers From space. Black Scorpion also kind of fits that description, since it showed the title monster feeding on smaller scorpions and other creatures. That was also one of very few to use stop motion animation, from Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson. Since stop motion was so labor intensive, a lot of the giant bug movies were made with process/ optical shots to blow up real insects, or crude full-sized mockups. Some of the last that got made were in the 1970s, when it was more like a comic trope. Hope this helps...
> I think Flash Gordon fought one or more magnified critters
> on film in the 1930s, but I don't recall if that included bugs.
If it comes to that, King Kong was meant to have giant arthropods with the spider pit sequence, which did get into the novel. I think at least a tenth of all the Kong lore I've encountered is about that scene.

David Johnston wrote:
> On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
> >
> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
> >
> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
> >
> >
> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
> >
> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.

> The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?). Given that

"giANTS" as per the 1980 Hugo-winning story by Edward Bryant
(or, as we should say, bryANT)

> scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
> anachronism.

Indeed, the part of my brain that chews over such things has been
working over the weekend ("rent free"). Even roping in crustaceans
like "Attack of the Crab Monsters"(1957) or the (shadow of a) giant
lobster that was the food animal the "Teenagers from Outer Space"
(1959) wanted to pasture on Earth doesn't get us anywhere. Falling
into the thought that it stems from an actual quote, perhaps giant
animals in general, they getting an earlier start with "The Beast from
20,000 Fathoms" (1953). But perhaps stop-motion fan Tim Burton
knew giant animals in general stretch back to the classic period,
with "King Kong" and "Mighty Joe Young," and also wouldn't want
to be insulting the work of Ray Harryhausen. It would be wonderful
if the quote was changed from something too '50s sounding, such
as, "Spacemen, atomic monsters..."

--
-Jack

Jack Bohn wrote:

> It would be wonderful
> if the quote was changed from something too '50s sounding, such
> as, "Spacemen, atomic monsters..."

Incidentally, there is a movie by Peter Bogdanovich, "Targets"(1968) which stars Boris Karloff, and compares his type of horror movie with the horrors of the day, such as shooting sprees, in language contemporary to the time. Again, caution against reading the lines written for his character as the opinions of Karloff.

--
-Jack

On Mon, 8 Aug 2022 07:50:18 -0700 (PDT), David Brown
<davidnbrown80@gmail.com> wrote:

>On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 5:36:24 AM UTC-7, Robert Carnegie wrote:
>> On Sunday, 7 August 2022 at 03:08:42 UTC+1, David Brown wrote:
>> > On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
>> > > From the movie "Ed Wood."
>> > >
>> > > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>> > >
>> > > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>> > >
>> > > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>> > That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider. Then there were movies that had giant insect or insect-like creatures as secondary antagonists to another monster or villain, like Rodan and Killers From space. Black Scorpion also kind of fits that description, since it showed the title monster feeding on smaller scorpions and other creatures. That was also one of very few to use stop motion animation, from Willis O'Brien and Pete Peterson. Since stop motion was so labor intensive, a lot of the giant bug movies were made with process/ optical shots to blow up real insects, or crude full-sized mockups. Some of the last that got made were in the 1970s, when it was more like a comic trope. Hope this helps...
>> I think Flash Gordon fought one or more magnified critters
>> on film in the 1930s, but I don't recall if that included bugs.
>If it comes to that, King Kong was meant to have giant arthropods with the spider pit sequence, which did get into the novel. I think at least a tenth of all the Kong lore I've encountered is about that scene.

The DVD of the original /King Kong/ that came out at the same time as
the Peter Jackson version's DVD has a feature that shows extras from
PJ's version enacting the spider scene. No spiders, but you do get to
get an idea of what was supposed to happen.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Sun, 07 Aug 2022 09:37:30 -0700, Paul S Person
<psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:

>On Sun, 7 Aug 2022 07:33:52 -0700 (PDT), Lenona <lenona321@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 10:08:42 PM UTC-4, David Brown wrote:
>>> On Saturday, August 6, 2022 at 5:53:27 AM UTC-7, Lenona wrote:
>>> > From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>> >
>>> > Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>>> >
>>> > "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe such nonsense?"
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>>> >
>>> > So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>>> That's not even hard. Besides Them and Tarantula, there were The Deadly Mantis, The Black Scorpion, Earth Vs. The Spider.
>>
>>Um, those last three were released after Lugosi's death.
>
>But they could have been planned and/or in production. There was at
>least one "business" newspaper reporting current projects, and he
>could have been reacting (if he actually said this) to what the
>studios were planning -- none of those plans including him.

Also, as someone else pointed out, the success of /Them!/ would have
produced a lot of planning for additional such films. It is possible
that (again, if Lugosi actually made that remark) Lugosi was reacting
to this vast projected onslought of giant insect movies.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On 8/6/22 12:08, David Johnston wrote:
> On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
>>  From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>
>> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>>
>> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all
>> giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe
>> such nonsense?"
>>
>>
>> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's
>> lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or
>> grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The
>> Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>>
>> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>
> The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?).  Given that
> scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
> anachronism.

So, my wife and I went to Alaska and The Yukon, and you didn't. Neener,
neener.

Anyway, The Beginning of the End is the one that featured the giant
grasshoppers. The movie was mentioned, but I don't think it was
mentioned that the grasshoppers were in that movie.

--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
Sr. Software Engineer - Stellar Solutions (Definitely Retired)

On Sunday, August 7, 2022 at 8:36:24 AM UTC-4, Robert Carnegie wrote:

[snip]

> I think Flash Gordon fought one or more magnified critters
> on film in the 1930s, but I don't recall if that included bugs.

Mongo had "dragons," and Serial Flash encountered them in the first
eposode.

9:07 and later in "The Planet of Peril."

https://youtu.be/fgHKEaGbyDo

Quite a bit like Terran iguanas.

--
Kevin R

On Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:05:46 -0700, BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:

>On 8/6/22 12:08, David Johnston wrote:
>> On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
>>>  From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>>
>>> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>>>
>>> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all
>>> giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe
>>> such nonsense?"
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's
>>> lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or
>>> grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The
>>> Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>>>
>>> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>>
>> The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?).  Given that
>> scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
>> anachronism.
>
>So, my wife and I went to Alaska and The Yukon, and you didn't. Neener,
>neener.
>
>Anyway, The Beginning of the End is the one that featured the giant
>grasshoppers. The movie was mentioned, but I don't think it was
>mentioned that the grasshoppers were in that movie.

Is that the one that involves Chicago?
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On 8/12/22 08:28, Paul S Person wrote:
> On Thu, 11 Aug 2022 17:05:46 -0700, BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote:
>
>> On 8/6/22 12:08, David Johnston wrote:
>>> On 2022-08-06 6:53 a.m., Lenona wrote:
>>>>  From the movie "Ed Wood."
>>>>
>>>> Bela Lugosi (played by Martin Landau):
>>>>
>>>> "They don't want the classic horror films anymore. Today it's all
>>>> giant bugs. Giant spiders, giant grasshoppers... Who would believe
>>>> such nonsense?"
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure there were a few movies with giant spiders in Lugosi's
>>>> lifetime - but the most famous(?) post-war movies with spiders or
>>>> grasshoppers apparently only came out after his death. Namely, "The
>>>> Incredible Shrinking Man" and "Beginning of the End."
>>>>
>>>> So...what movies could Lugosi have been referring to? Please let me know.
>>>
>>> The giant bug fad started with Them (gi-ants, get it?).  Given that
>>> scene took place in 1955 when Them was released it's a bit of an
>>> anachronism.
>>
>> So, my wife and I went to Alaska and The Yukon, and you didn't. Neener,
>> neener.
>>
>> Anyway, The Beginning of the End is the one that featured the giant
>> grasshoppers. The movie was mentioned, but I don't think it was
>> mentioned that the grasshoppers were in that movie.
>
> Is that the one that involves Chicago?
I believe it is. Check the following link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beginning_of_the_End_(film)

--
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire (Retired)
Sr. Software Engineer - Stellar Solutions (Definitely Retired)